IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK TO ENSURE VIBE GERMANY PROFITABILITY (Dissertation Sample)

INCLUDEPICTURE "https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C4E0BAQGVJVwLA4QzUw/company-logo_200_200/0/1629358254258?e=2159024400&v=beta&t=XDepA6-RRGid-Dt5VpOiInG4ImrN4rWUyjNQVYNQEME" \* MERGEFORMATINET IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK TO ENSURE VIBE GERMANY PROFITABILITYBy XXXXXXXXGroup XXXXXXXStudent No. XXXXXXA Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirementsfor the Bachelor of Science (BSC.) in International Business On June, 2022To (Identifying details have been redacted) Executive Summary Vibe Germany reported unprecedented losses in 2020 and 2021, totalling 1,237,211€ and 1,234,559€, respectively. The revenues generated were below par compared to the other subsidiaries of Vibe Group in the Netherlands and Belgium. The lack of a comprehensive risk management framework to detect, assess, and mitigate unforeseen events was the hypothesized leading cause of the poor financial performance in Vibe Germany. Therefore, the desired situation was for the company to adopt a practical risk management approach to minimise the losses. The central question of the inquiry was what risk management strategy Vibe Germany could adopt to cut losses by 18%, which is approximately 214,389.88€, by the end of 2023. To answer this question, the study researched about the systematic risk pillars that Vibe Germany should apply to strengthen its risk-handling framework. Additionally, the study sought to establish Vibe Germany’s risk maturity level and how far it needs to be enhanced to attain optimum benefits in risk management. Lastly, the study explored aspects of organisational culture that Vibe Germany could employ to inform its risk management strategy. The results showed Vibe Germany has weaknesses in customer satisfaction, financial management, enterprise supervision, technology, and change management which are vital pillars of systematic risk management. The findings further revealed that the risk maturity level of Vibe Germany is at the managed level, meaning the company still has to go through the defined, quantitatively managed, and optimised stages before attaining maturity. Evidence also showed weaknesses in organisational culture, whereby the organisation was not seen to either promote a risk-aware culture, assess and report risks regularly, engage all employees in decision-making, provide clear directions on risk management issues, or have a clearly defined position of the Head of Risk and a dedicated risk management department. The research concluded that Vibe Germany needs to advance its risk maturity level, employ the key pillars of systematic risk management, and adopt a risk-aware culture. As a result, it has been recommended that the company implements a digital risk management system, create a risk management department, implement an enhanced employee welfare package, and establish a Public Relations (PR) office. Table of Contents TOC \o "1-4" \h \z \u Executive Summary PAGEREF _Toc111582943 \h 2 List of Tables and Figures PAGEREF _Toc111582944 \h 6 Chapter 1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc111582945 \h 7 1.1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc111582946 \h 7 1.2. Background of the Research PAGEREF _Toc111582947 \h 7 1.3. Company Description PAGEREF _Toc111582948 \h 7 1.4. Problem Analysis PAGEREF _Toc111582949 \h 10 1.4.1. Improved Situation PAGEREF _Toc111582950 \h 11 1.4.2. Opportunity Analysis PAGEREF _Toc111582951 \h 11 1.5. Main Research Question (MRQ) PAGEREF _Toc111582952 \h 12 1.6. The Organisation of the Report PAGEREF _Toc111582953 \h 13 Chapter 2 Theoretical Framework PAGEREF _Toc111582954 \h 15 2.1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc111582955 \h 15 2.2. Systematic Risk Management Model PAGEREF _Toc111582956 \h 15 2.2.1. Variables PAGEREF _Toc111582957 \h 15 2.2.1.1. Social responsibility PAGEREF _Toc111582958 \h 16 2.2.1.2. Financial Performance PAGEREF _Toc111582959 \h 16 2.2.1.3. Enterprise supervision PAGEREF _Toc111582960 \h 16 2.2.1.4. Technological advance PAGEREF _Toc111582961 \h 17 2.2.1.5. Innovation PAGEREF _Toc111582962 \h 17 2.2.2. Advantages and Disadvantages PAGEREF _Toc111582963 \h 18 2.3. Capability Maturity Model (CMM) in Risk Management PAGEREF _Toc111582964 \h 18 2.3.1. Variables PAGEREF _Toc111582965 \h 18 2.3.1.1. Initial PAGEREF _Toc111582966 \h 19 2.3.1.2. Managed PAGEREF _Toc111582967 \h 19 2.3.1.3. Defined/Structured PAGEREF _Toc111582968 \h 19 2.3.1.4. Quantitatively Managed PAGEREF _Toc111582969 \h 19 2.3.1.5. Optimizing PAGEREF _Toc111582970 \h 20 2.3.2. Advantages and Disadvantages PAGEREF _Toc111582971 \h 20 2.4. Organisational Culture Model PAGEREF _Toc111582972 \h 20 2.4.1. Variables PAGEREF _Toc111582973 \h 20 2.4.2. Advantages and Disadvantages PAGEREF _Toc111582974 \h 21 2.6. Selection and Justification of Theory PAGEREF _Toc111582975 \h 21 2.7. Limitations of the Selected Theories PAGEREF _Toc111582976 \h 22 2. 8. Sub-Questions PAGEREF _Toc111582977 \h 22 Chapter 3 Methodology PAGEREF _Toc111582978 \h 24 3.1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc111582979 \h 24 3.2. Sub-question 1 PAGEREF _Toc111582980 \h 24 3.2.1. Research Methodology PAGEREF _Toc111582981 \h 24 3.2.2. Validity and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc111582982 \h 26 3.3. Sub-question 2 PAGEREF _Toc111582983 \h 26 3.3.1. Research methodology PAGEREF _Toc111582984 \h 27 3.3.2. Validity and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc111582985 \h 28 3.4. Sub-question 3 PAGEREF _Toc111582986 \h 28 3.4.1. Research Methodology PAGEREF _Toc111582987 \h 29 3.4.2. Validity and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc111582988 \h 30 3.5. Ethical Issues PAGEREF _Toc111582989 \h 30 3.6. Chapter Summary PAGEREF _Toc111582990 \h 31 Chapter 4 Results PAGEREF _Toc111582991 \h 33 4.1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc111582992 \h 33 4.2. Sub-question 1 PAGEREF _Toc111582993 \h 33 4.2.1. Findings PAGEREF _Toc111582994 \h 33 4.2.1.1. Social responsibility PAGEREF _Toc111582995 \h 33 4.2.1.2. Financial performance PAGEREF _Toc111582996 \h 35 4.2.1.3. Enterprise supervision PAGEREF _Toc111582997 \h 36 4.2.1.4. Technological advance PAGEREF _Toc111582998 \h 37 4.2.1.5. Innovation PAGEREF _Toc111582999 \h 39 4.2.2. Validity and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc111583000 \h 40 4.2.3. Potential Answer PAGEREF _Toc111583001 \h 42 4.3. Sub-question 2 PAGEREF _Toc111583002 \h 43 4.3.1. Findings PAGEREF _Toc111583003 \h 43 4.3.2. Validity and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc111583004 \h 45 4.3.3. Potential Answer PAGEREF _Toc111583005 \h 46 4.4. Sub-question 3 PAGEREF _Toc111583006 \h 46 4.4.1. Findings PAGEREF _Toc111583007 \h 46 4.4.1.1. Artefacts and symbols PAGEREF _Toc111583008 \h 46 4.4.1.2. Espoused values PAGEREF _Toc111583009 \h 48 4.4.1.3. Language PAGEREF _Toc111583010 \h 49 4.4.1.4. Basic underlying assumptions PAGEREF _Toc111583011 \h 50 4.4.1..5. Patterns of behaviours PAGEREF _Toc111583012 \h 50 4.4.2. Validity and Reliability PAGEREF _Toc111583013 \h 51 4.4.3. Potential Answer PAGEREF _Toc111583014 \h 52 4.5. Chapter Summary PAGEREF _Toc111583015 \h 52 Chapter 5 Conclusions PAGEREF _Toc111583016 \h 53 5.1. Introduction PAGEREF _Toc111583017 \h 53 5.2. Sub-question 1 PAGEREF _Toc111583018 \h 53 5.3. Sub-question 2 PAGEREF _Toc111583019 \h 55 5.4. Sub-question 3 PAGEREF _Toc111583020 \h 55 5.5. Chapter Summary PAGEREF _Toc111583021 \h 56 Chapter 6 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc111583022 \h 58 6.1. Strategies PAGEREF _Toc111583023 \h 58 6.1.1. Implement a Digital Risk Management System PAGEREF _Toc111583024 \h 58 6.1.2. Establish a Risk Management Department PAGEREF _Toc111583025 \h 58 6.1.3. Implement an Enhanced Employee Welfare Package PAGEREF _Toc111583026 \h 59 6.1.4. Establish a Public Relations (PR) Office PAGEREF _Toc111583027 \h 59 6.2. Implementation Plan PAGEREF _Toc111583028 \h 60 6.2.1. Action Plan 1: Establish a Risk Management Department PAGEREF _Toc111583029 \h 60 6.2.2. Action Plan 2: Implement a Digital Risk Management System PAGEREF _Toc111583030 \h 60 6.2.3. Action Plan 3: Implement an Enhanced Employee Welfare Package PAGEREF _Toc111583031 \h 61 6.2.4. Action Plan 4: Establish a PR office PAGEREF _Toc111583032 \h 62 6.3. Cost-Benefit Analysis PAGEREF _Toc111583033 \h 62 6.3.1. Recurring Expenses PAGEREF _Toc111583034 \h 62 6.3.2. Non-recurring expenses PAGEREF _Toc111583035 \h 63 6.4. Ethical Issues PAGEREF _Toc111583036 \h 64 6.4. Limitations of the study PAGEREF _Toc111583037 \h 64 References PAGEREF _Toc111583038 \h 65 Appendix 1: Survey Questionnaire PAGEREF _Toc111583039 \h 69 Appendix 2: Semi-Structured Interview Guide PAGEREF _Toc111583040 \h 72 Appendix 3: Follow –Up Interview Guide PAGEREF _Toc111583041 \h 75 Appendix 4: Informed Consent Form PAGEREF _Toc111583042 \h 76 List of Tables and Figures TOC \h \z \c "Table" Table 1 Summary of Vibe Group performance in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. PAGEREF _Toc110019401 \h 10 Table 2 Revenues generated by Vibe Group for different contract arrangements with clients. PAGEREF _Toc110019402 \h 12 Table 3 Project losses reductions by 2023. PAGEREF _Toc110019403 \h 13 Table 4 Operationalization table for sub-question 1. PAGEREF _Toc110019404 \h 25 Table 5. Operationalization table for sub-question 2. PAGEREF _Toc110019405 \h 27 Table 6 Operationalization table for sub-question 3. PAGEREF _Toc110019406 \h 29 Table 7 Summary of research methods considerations. PAGEREF _Toc110019407 \h 31 Table 8 Data reduction and coding for social responsibility pillar. PAGEREF _Toc110019408 \h 34 Table 9 Data reduction and coding for financial performance pillar. PAGEREF _Toc110019409 \h 35 Table 10 Data reduction and coding for enterprise supervision pillar. PAGEREF _Toc110019410 \h 37 Table 11 Data reduction and coding for technological advance pillar. PAGEREF _Toc110019411 \h 38 Table 12 Data reduction and coding for innovation/change pillar. PAGEREF _Toc110019412 \h 40 Table 13 Reliability and validity aspects for Vibe Germany's systematic risk management. PAGEREF _Toc110019413 \h 41 Table 14 Inte...